Texas Court Dismisses Section 1557 Transgender Discrimination Claim

In a notable recent court decision highlighting transgender issues and employer sponsored benefit plans, on January 13, 2017, in Baker v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5665, 2017 WL 131658 (N.D. Tex.), Aetna Life Insurance Co. (“Aetna”) defeated a claim by a transgender employee of L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (“L-3”) who alleged that Aetna’s denial of her disability benefits constituted discrimination based on her gender identity. The plaintiff, Charlize Marie Baker (“Baker”), is a participant in L-3’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) covered group health plan and short term disability benefits plan (“STD Plan”). Aetna is the third party administrator (“TPA”) of the group health plan and the claim fiduciary and administrator of the STD Plan.

In 2011, Baker began transitioning from male to female, legally changing her name and gender designation on all government issued documents. In 2015, after a consultation with a health care professional who determined that breast implants were medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria, Baker scheduled surgery and sought benefits under the STD Plan to cover her post-surgery recovery. Coverage under the group health plan and benefit claims under the STD Plan were denied. Filing suit against Aetna and L-3, Baker alleged that Aetna and L-3 discriminated against her based on her gender identity in violation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), that Aetna denied her benefits under the STD Plan in violation of ERISA, and that Aetna and L-3 violated Title VII by discriminating against her based on her sex.

The court held that there is no controlling precedent that recognizes a cause of action under Section 1557 for discrimination based on gender identity with Baker failing to cite any precedent that recognizes such a cause of action. The court also held that ERISA does not recognize such a claim. Specifically, the court concluded that it is up to Congress to decide whether it wants to create in ERISA a protection that the statute does not expressly provide. Lastly, regarding Baker’s Title VII claims, the court found that Aetna was not an employer of Baker under the “single employer” test or the “hybrid economic realities/common law control” test. However, the court declined to dismiss Baker’s Title VII claims against L-3, finding Baker did sufficiently argue that she was denied employee benefits due to her sex.

Takeaways

While the Northern District of Texas declined to find a cause of action for gender identity discrimination under Section 1557 of the ACA, there are several cases of gender identity or transgender discrimination pending that may further impact the law for these benefit claims under Section 1557. There is little likelihood, however, that a claim of gender identity discrimination will be successful under ERISA. If the ACA is repealed under the Trump administration, Section 1557 will no longer be available and transgendered employees would be limited to claims under Title VII, to the extent that employees are successful in arguing that discrimination on the basis of gender identity constitutes sex discrimination.